Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 79,700 Shares of RadNet, Inc. $RDNT

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of RadNet, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDNT) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,141,837 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 79,700 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in RadNet were worth $87,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RDNT. Castleark Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of RadNet by 241.7% during the second quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 96,203 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after acquiring an additional 68,050 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in RadNet during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,051,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in RadNet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $225,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of RadNet by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 30,855 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 10,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of RadNet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,226,000. 77.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RDNT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of RadNet from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. KeyCorp raised RadNet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised RadNet to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of RadNet in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered RadNet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mital Patel sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.06, for a total value of $1,901,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 205,138 shares in the company, valued at $15,602,796.28. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 50,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,902,254 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

RadNet Price Performance

RDNT opened at $70.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -416.86 and a beta of 1.49. RadNet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.00 and a 12 month high of $85.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.77.

RadNet (NASDAQ:RDNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The medical research company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.03). RadNet had a positive return on equity of 2.52% and a negative net margin of 0.65%.The business had revenue of $522.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $494.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that RadNet, Inc. will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

RadNet Profile

RadNet, Inc is a leading independent provider of outpatient diagnostic imaging services in the United States. Through a nationwide network of fixed-site imaging centers and affiliated joint-venture locations, the company delivers a comprehensive suite of radiology services including MRI, CT, PET/CT, ultrasound, X-ray, mammography, bone densitometry, nuclear medicine and interventional radiology procedures. RadNet also offers teleradiology and imaging management solutions to physician practices, hospitals and healthcare systems.

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Los Angeles, RadNet has expanded its footprint organically and through strategic acquisitions.